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The Atlanta Braves erased a 4-0 lead and a spectacular play by Michael Harris II completed the comeback in Game 2 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
It was Harris’ leaping catch and wherewithal to get the ball in quickly that led to a game-ending double play.
“I knew off the bat it was going to be close to the fence,” Harris said. “I knew once I went back I wasn’t stopping. I was going to do anything I could to get a glove on it. If my body had to go down because of that, I would have done that.”
Nick Castellanos was at the plate with one out in the top of the ninth with the Braves leading 5-4 at Truist Park.
The Phillies outfielder took a 2-2 pitch deep to right-center field and it looked as though the ball would hit off the wall, but Harris jumped to make the catch at the warning track.
The outfielder then roped the ball toward the infield.
Third baseman Austin Riley was able to get over to the ball and quickly throw it over to first to double up Bryce Harper to end the game on an improbable note.
“Usually you don’t pass the base,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “You stay in front of it, make sure it’s not caught. But he thought the ball was clearly over his head, didn’t think he was going to catch it. And Harris made a heck of a play. Unbelievable.”
The turn of events sent the stadium into utter pandemonium as the Braves secured the series-tying win.
The game was already a must-watch after the Braves rallied from down four runs.
The Braves had been able to get their first run in the sixth inning and then Travis d’Arnaud hit a two-run homer in the seventh to pull Atlanta within one.
Riley sent a two-run blast over the left field wall in the bottom of the eighth to give the Braves their first lead of the night.
“Just being on the fastball, not trying to do too much,” Riley said about the home run, according to MLB.com. “I felt like I was fighting myself all night to try to put the barrel on the ball, and I was able to stay back just long enough.”
With the series knotted at one, things will shift to Philadelphia for the next two games.
Game 3 takes place on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
— with AP
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